Monthly Archives: September 2017

Comments Off on White House claims ‘dreamers’ take jobs away from blacks and Hispanics. Here’s the truth.

Again the lies. MA

Wonkblog | Analysis
By Tracy Jan
September 6, 2017 at 4:46 PM
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders spoke to reporters about President Trump’s change to immigration protection for “dreamers” on Sept. 5. (Reuters)
It’s a long-running talking point spouted by Trump administration members and the president himself: Undocumented immigrants are taking jobs away from black and Hispanic Americans.
Hours after President Trump dismantled an Obama-era program that had granted 800,000 young undocumented immigrants permission to live and work in the United States, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders again made the claim.
“It’s a known fact that there are over 4 million unemployed Americans in the same age group as those that are DACA recipients; that over 950,000 of those are African Americans in the same age group; over 870,000 unemployed Hispanics in the same age group,” Sanders said during Tuesday’s press briefing. “Those are large groups of people that are unemployed that could possibly have those jobs.”
Here’s the problem: immigrant and native-born workers are imperfect substitutes. There is no evidence that the unemployed Americans, be they black, white or Hispanic, have the skills necessary to hold the same jobs occupied by the young beneficiaries of the five-year-old Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
“It is one thing to say that there are hundreds of thousands of minorities the same age that are unemployed, and a very different thing for them to have the same education, skills and experience as the employed DACA workers,” said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, president of the American Action Forum and former chief economic policy adviser to Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) presidential campaign.
“And if they do,” he added, “it begs the question as to why they don’t have those jobs in the first place.”
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders arrives at the podium to give the daily briefing on Sept. 5 in Washington. (Bill O’Leary/The Washington Post)
Contrary to Sanders’s assertion, he said, DACA improves the economic outlook for low-skilled, American-born workers. Without work permits, undocumented immigrants are more likely to take any job they can, even work that falls far below their skill or education level. DACA, on the other hand, allows those workers to move to jobs that better match their background, freeing up low-skilled positions.
There is just no compelling proof that immigration — legal or illegal — “squeezes out native-born workers in any systematic way,” Holtz-Eakin said. “We’ve experienced waves of immigration and still, on average, reached full employment.”
The number of jobs in the United States is not fixed. An influx of immigrant workers generates economic growth and employment opportunities by increasing productivity, said Jackie Varas, director of immigration and trade policy at American Action Forum.
“Many DACA recipients are also more skilled than other immigrants because they possess a college education, so they don’t compete with low-skilled Americans,” Varas said.
Furthermore, said Darrick Hamilton, an economics and urban policy professor at The New School, blacks and Latinos want access to quality jobs, not just jobs at the bottom of the labor market.
Related: [‘Dreamers’ can ‘rest easy,’ Ryan says, promising congressional action]
“Why do we reserve and presume the bottom of the labor market for blacks and Latinos?” Hamilton said. “Many DACA recipients are full-time students not engaged in taking away jobs.”
Of the DACA-eligible immigrants over 21 years old, 12 percent have bachelor’s degrees, 3 percent have advanced degrees, 84 percent have completed high school and some college, and 2 percent did not graduate from high school, according to an analysis by New American Economy.
The Trump administration is rescinding Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. The Obama-era program granted two-year work permits to undocumented immigrants brought into the country as children. (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)
A Moody’s Analytics analysis of Trump’s proposed economic policies last year showed that removing all undocumented immigrants from the labor force would trigger an economic recession within one year.
Another American Action Forum study found that if all undocumented immigrants were deported, there would not be enough American workers to fill all of the jobs that would be left open. And even if all available native workers filled the open slots, the country would still be short 4 million workers.
Trump and his supporters have often pitted minority groups against one another. But there is no broad economic justification to do so.
“Cannibalizing stigmatized and marginalized groups against each other serves the wealthy interests that benefit from such divisive colonial and labor segmenting tactics,” Hamilton said.
Tracy Jan covers the intersection of race and the economy for The Post. She previously was a national political reporter at The Boston Globe.

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Another shiny object has distracted TOTUS, this time it’s the so called “anthem” protests. This all started with Colin Kaepernick’ taking a knee when the anthem played. The protest was about the anthem not the flag! This action was taken as an insult to the flag since no one save a few really paid attention to what Colin actually said even though it was written and heard by many. The protest over the anthem is simple, the writer of the anthem ( Francis Scott Key) whose brief Biography is below. Colin has stated the 3rd verse of the Anthem (poem) was Racist (dubious connection) and Scott Key was a slave owner (this is true). *The highlighted line refers to people of color who fought for the British on the promise of freedom. It appears to me that Colin may have misread or understood this part.MA

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion,
A home and a country, should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution.No refuge could save the hireling and slave*
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave,
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Fort McHenry looking towards the position of the British ships (with the Francis Scott Key Bridge in the distance on the upper left)
At dawn, Key was able to see an American flag still waving. Back in Baltimore and inspired, Key wrote a poem about his experience, “Defence of Fort M’Henry”, which was soon published in William Pechin’s American and Commercial Daily Advertiser on September 21, 1814. He took it to Thomas Carr, a music publisher, who adapted it to the rhythms of composer John Stafford Smith’s “To Anacreon in Heaven”, a popular tune Key had already used as a setting for his 1805-song “When the Warrior Returns”, celebrating U.S. heroes of the First Barbary War. (Key used the “star-spangled” flag imagery in the earlier song.) It has become better known as “The Star-Spangled Banner”. Though somewhat difficult to sing, it became increasingly popular, competing with “Hail, Columbia” (1796) as the de facto national anthem by the time of the Mexican–American War and American Civil War. More than a century after its first publication, the song was adopted as the American national anthem, first by an Executive Order from President Woodrow Wilson in 1916 (which had little effect beyond requiring military bands to play what became known as the “Service Version”) and then by a Congressional resolution in 1931, signed by President Herbert Hoover.

Key law office on Court Street in Frederick, Maryland
Key was a leading attorney in Frederick, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. for many years, with an extensive real estate as well as trial practice. He and his family settled in Georgetown in 1805 or 1806, near the new national capital. There the young Key assisted his uncle, the prominent lawyer Philip Barton Key, such as in the sensational conspiracy trial of Aaron Burr and the expulsion of Senator John Smith of Ohio. He made the first of his many arguments before the United States Supreme Court in 1807. In 1808 he assisted President Thomas Jefferson’s attorney general in United States v. Peters.
In 1829, Key, a supporter of Andrew Jackson, assisted in the prosecution of Tobias Watkins, former U.S. Treasury auditor under former President John Quincy Adams for misappropriating public monies. He also handled the Petticoat affair concerning Secretary of War John Eaton, who had married a widowed saloonkeeper. In 1832, he served as the attorney for Sam Houston, then a former U.S. Representative and Governor of Tennessee, during his trial for assaulting Representative William Stanbery of Ohio.
President Jackson nominated Key for United States Attorney for the District of Columbia in 1833. After the U.S. Senate approved the nomination, he served from 1833 to 1841, while also handling his own private legal cases.[14] In 1835, in his most famous case, he prosecuted Richard Lawrence for his unsuccessful attempt to assassinate President Andrew Jackson at the entrance doors and top steps of the Capitol, the first attempt to kill an American chief executive.
Slavery and American Colonization Society[edit]
Key purchased his first slave in 1800 or 1801 and owned six slaves in 1820. Mostly in the 1830s, Key manumitted (set free) seven slaves, one of whom (Clem Johnson) continued to work for him for wages as his farm’s foreman, supervising several slaves.
Throughout his career Key also represented several slaves seeking their freedom in court (for free), as well as several masters seeking return of their runaway slaves. Key, Judge William Leigh of Halifax, and bishop William Meade were administrators of the will of their friend John Randolph of Roanoke, who died without children and left a will directing his executors to free his more than four hundred slaves. Over the next decade, beginning in 1833, the administrators fought to enforce the will and provide the freed slaves land to support themselves.
Key publicly criticized slavery’s cruelties, so much that after his death a newspaper editorial stated “So actively hostile was he to the peculiar institution that he was called ‘The Nigger Lawyer’ …. because he often volunteered to defend the downtrodden sons and daughters of Africa. Mr. Key convinced me that slavery was wrong—radically wrong. “In June 1842, Key attended the funeral of William Costin, a free, mixed race resident who had challenged Washington’s surety bond laws.
Key was a founding member and active leader of the American Colonization Society and its predecessor, the influential Maryland branch, the primary goal of which was to send free African-Americans back to Africa. However, he was removed from the board in 1833 as its policies shifted toward abolitionist.
Anti-abolitionist
Key used his position as U.S. Attorney to suppress abolitionists. In 1833, he secured a grand jury indictment against Benjamin Lundy, editor of the anti-slavery publication, the Genius of Universal Emancipation, and his printer, William Greer, for libel after Lundy published an article that declared, “There is neither mercy nor justice for colored people in this district [of Columbia]”. Lundy’s article, Key said in the indictment, “was intended to injure, oppress, aggrieve, and vilify the good name, fame, credit & reputation of the Magistrates and constables” of Washington. Lundy left town rather than face trial; Greer was acquitted. In August 1836, Key agreed to prosecute botanist and doctor Reuben Crandall, brother of controversial Connecticut school teacher Prudence Crandall, who had recently moved to the national capital. Key secured an indictment for “seditious libel” after two marshals (who operated as slave catchers in their off hours) found Crandall had a trunk full of anti-slavery publications in his Georgetown residence, five days after the Snow Riot, caused by rumors that a mentally ill slave had attempted to kill an elderly white woman. In an April 1837 trial that attracted nationwide attention, Key charged that Crandall’s actions instigated slaves to rebel. Crandall’s attorneys acknowledged he opposed slavery, but denied any intent or actions to encourage rebellion. Key, in his final address to the jury said:
“Are you willing, gentlemen, to abandon your country, to permit it to be taken from you, and occupied by the abolitionist, according to whose taste it is to associate and amalgamate with the negro? Or, gentlemen, on the other hand, are there laws in this community to defend you from the immediate abolitionist, who would open upon you the floodgates of such extensive wickedness and mischief?”
A jury acquitted Crandall.
This defeat, as well as family tragedies in 1835, diminished Key’s political ambition. He resigned as district attorney in 1840. He remained a staunch proponent of African colonization and a strong critic of the antislavery movement until his death.
Religion
Key was a devout and prominent Episcopalian. In his youth, he almost became an Episcopal priest rather than a lawyer. Throughout his life he sprinkled biblical references in his correspondence. He was active in All Saints Parish in Frederick, Maryland, near his family’s home. He also helped found or financially support several parishes in the new national capital, including St. John’s Church in Georgetown and Christ Church in Alexandria.
From 1818 until his death in 1843, Key was associated with the American Bible Society. He successfully opposed an abolitionist resolution presented to that group around 1838.
Key also helped found two Episcopal seminaries, one in Baltimore and the other across the Potomac River in Alexandria, Virginia (the Virginia Theological Seminary). Key also published a prose work called The Power of Literature, and Its Connection with Religion in 1834.
Death and legacy

The Howard family vault at Saint Paul’s Cemetery, Baltimore, Maryland.
On January 11, 1843, Key died at the home of his daughter Elizabeth Howard in Baltimore from pleurisy at age 63. He was initially interred in Old Saint Paul’s Cemetery in the vault of John Eager Howard but in 1866, his body was moved to his family plot in Frederick at Mount Olivet Cemetery.
The Key Monument Association erected a memorial in 1898 and the remains of both Francis Scott Key and his wife, Mary Tayloe Lloyd, were placed in a crypt in the base of the monument.
Despite several efforts to preserve it, the Francis Scott Key residence was ultimately dismantled in 1947. The residence had been located at 3516–18 M Street in Georgetown.
Though Key had written poetry from time to time, often with heavily religious themes, these works were not collected and published until 14 years after his death. Two of his religious poems used as Christian hymns include “Before the Lord We Bow” and “Lord, with Glowing Heart I’d Praise Thee”.
In 1806, Key’s sister, Anne Phoebe Charlton Key, married Roger B. Taney, who would later become Chief Justice of the United States. In 1846 one daughter, Alice, married U.S. Senator George H. Pendleton[30] and another, Ellen Lloyd, married Simon F. Blunt. In 1859 Key’s son Philip Barton Key II was shot and killed by Daniel Sickles‍ (‌a U.S. Representative from New York who would serve as a general in the American Civil War‍) after he discovered that Philip Barton Key was having an affair with his wife. Sickles was acquitted in the first use of the temporary insanity defense. In 1861 Key’s grandson Francis Key Howard was imprisoned in Fort McHenry with the Mayor of Baltimore George William Brown and other locals deemed pro-South.
Key was a distant cousin and the namesake of F. Scott Fitzgerald, whose full name was Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald. His direct descendants include geneticist Thomas Hunt Morgan, guitarist Dana Key, and American fashion designer and socialite Pauline de Rothschild.

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When we learn that politicians essentially lie for a living, we then begin to pay closer attention to what they say on the campaign trail and compare that to what they say and do in chambers. There are very few of the 535 who are in it t0 serve, the others are in it for the money. I believe any one of us could live comfortably on the salary of the Congress without the additional perks of the office. There is not much beyond voting that we can do unless we use social media. Think about what can happen if supporters and non supporters wrote or called their representatives with their complaints on a daily basis. This outpouring will give them a better idea of what people want and think than any survey. Most information put out as what the “American People” want is not and appear to be more of a snap shot from selected groups and usually via a survey over the phone or by mail. We the American people need to leave the opinions of the media on the ground and assert our own through direct contact with our representatives. Every State and the Federal government has a list with the contact information for the elected officials. No matter which method you use, remember a stamp costs fifty cents, an email or phone call next to nothing. Think about how much time you spend on Facebook and understand that the time would be better spent presenting your views to your representative. If this were done once every day by all of us, imagine what could happen.

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About 2000 plus years ago as the religious texts tell us, a child was born in a stable. This child and his exploits became known widely in the then known world. His wisdom, great deeds and his recorded words are still known to us through the various “Bibles”. We universally believe in this child through whichever religious sect we decide to follow. There are those who do not believe in this “legend” however the written records appear to reinforce it. Fast forward 2000 plus years, we have another child who through the apathy of voters is head of the most powerful country in the world. This “new” child is the polar opposite of the ancient one yet many follow and adore him as if he represents the “new coming”. Thinking back to the 1930’s when Germany was in the grips of a severe depression, dissatisfied with the government began to follow a ” Messiah” who spoke words that went against all of the “teachings” of the Bible. This messiah used race and religion to condemn and blame certain races and segments of the population. Using the media of the times he blamed and defamed these groups daily and so regularly that the general populace accepted these attacks as fact and lined up to drink the poison of Hatred. The resulting acceptance culminated in WWII and the destruction of millions of live based on the lies and hatred spewed over the airwaves and in person by the “Messiah”. America is not quite as depressed as Germany was in the 30’s but some of the same elements have raised their heads and voices in backing the “new Child”.

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The acronym “MAGA” is essentially an oxymoron. America has always been great, what has not been great is the ascension of extreme politics which does not take into account ALL of the needs of ALL of the people. Buzz words, sound bites and specialty names are meaningless to most people since they do not understand the underlying meanings. The wide assortment of political leanings, factions and subsets have created more confusion than relevance. The mass media that arrives daily via our home and mobile media devices assaults our senses and create more doubt than fact. The well known pundits on all sides have their own and their managed opinions but these are not always the opinions or thoughts of the majority of voters. The Making of a great America starts with creating a homogenous society where ALL citizens can live the life they require while being able to dissent without violence. The firebrands we view are not and probably cannot speak for people who they have not mirrored to understand their daily lives no matter what their station in life is. The worst issues we have at this time is the constant stream of lies and subterfuge piled on us by our elected officials. It has come to the point that these neer do wells have decided to keep us confused with rhetoric which explains nothing and hides their own personal goals which do not include anything good for voters. We have moved to a place where the line between separation of church and state is becoming blurred much to our detriment. Religion is personal and has no place in politics beyond taking an oath. The recent flare-ups between factions that mirror the actions of pre WW II Germany is disturbing and received much the same way as it was then. Many people dont like it but do or say nothing about it as long as it does not affect them personally. Make no mistake these actions can and will affect you if left unchecked. Best examples : Castro’s Cuba, Mao Ze Dong’s China, and the Taliban, the results are clear. If you want change it needs to come from informed voters and information is not a one stop shop. It is well to remember lies sound better than truth but truth will not harm you.

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With the recent election of TOTUS, the lies of our Congress have become front and center. We have always (or should have) suspected that many of our representatives lie to us on a daily basis. We now have a CIC and his administration lying on a national scale. We are hearing the truth from no one in the Trump administration due to President’s the lack of knowledge on many fronts. This has been his method of working all of his life. He listens and hears only what his limited brain power allows to stick. As a leader he reads nothing of substance and supports no one if they do not adore him. We are now faced with potential legislature that will devastate many who are already in dire straits. HIs “tax cuts” are on the neediest no matter how the administration tries to spin it. Since the repeal of the ACA died or neer do well Congress has think about reaching across the aisle ( as they should have done all along). We have come to a point where the Constitution is largely misunderstood and hardly read. Our Congress apparently does not care about serving if it does not serve them!. They are for the most part (majority party) just outright liars. There was a time that we understood that campaign promises were just that promises, once elected the “ins” did what they could but now they just lie and hope we pay no attention to them while they make their own way while socking away their substantial salaries and perk. As I listen to the assorted representatives , I realize that they all espouse the same flawed information about taxes and healthcare. Apparently lying is the order of the day for our government officials and they do with a straight face.. They all deserve the “HUTA” award for their service*.

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Are campaign promises more important than truth? The still ongoing issue of the repealing and replacing Obamacare is still up in the air but only because our neer do well Congress has lied to the oft cited “American People” about what Obama Care does. Couple this with the actual facts of Obamacare’s (ACA) use by the users, you have a wide divide. The Congressional (not on our siders) are pushing a program that will remove and dilute healthcare for people enjoying better healthcare than they has prior to the ACA. They have been warned by insurance companies, the OMB (Office of Budget and Management) which is an independent Government office dedicated to rating the cost of a proposed bill that this repeal and replace will be costly and reduce the current level of coverage. We know that the ACA is not perfect but the Congress had 8 years to fix it, instead out of pure hatred (for The American People) did nothing and now want to scrap a working system that needs help. If we as voters do not stand up and yell at our representatives then we are doomed to have worse healthcare than ever before. Keep in mind that Congress has exempted themselves from any changes. All of this along with the undoing of EPA rules on pollution (health issues, global warming) and attacking Tax laws with no clear path to any end. It is unfortunate that too many Americans (of all stripes) have and won’t read the Constitution or even try to understand it yet cite it with impunity born of ignorance. Our legislators have always promised to do things for us depending on what will get them the most votes and attention but have mostly failed to follow through once in office. These failures largely goes unnoticed until election time arrives again and many times revived by the opposition as a ploy to gain favor. The biggest problem is that the opposition will usually follow the same failed course themselves if the gain the office. Public service means you serve the public in a neutral manner, putting personal opinions and beliefs aside. The many labels that abound are just names for an assumed position and most label holders cannot explain their own beliefs.

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America was founded on protest. The current administration was ushered in on protests yet Totus is attempting to exert pressure on protesters. This time it’s the NFL, is there anyone or thing that his President will not attack? It is bad enough that he has no idea what his “job” entails and cannot seem to do it but to spend his time tweeting on everything that can garner attention is hardly the job he was selected to do. This minion has caused a huge rift in America and has distracted many from the harm he is doing here and abroad. It reminds me of what a certain German despot did in the 30’s (I believe Trumps family originated in Germany). The 1930’s brought us Adolph Hitler and his cohorts who murdered millions (including Germans) but made it look acceptable with lies and innuendo. We have a Tweeter In Chief who for lack of a moral compass will have millions without healthcare, have us in wars with other countries and standing alone because our allies have been alienated by his actions. (very Hitlerian). The one thing we can be sure of is the next President will have fences to mend thereby taking time way from the work of fixing our own homegrown problems while Donny rides into the sunset with his phone in his hands exclaiming what a good job he has done. The worst part of all of this that he does not understand or perhaps cannot the long range effect of his actions and those of his cabinet. To put a fine point on things the GOP aka Dupublicans have shown their willingness to lie with a straight face to their constituents to get campaign promises enacted no matter the cost in human health and ultimately jobs. This administration was voted in on promises and lies and continues on that track in all its dealings. Our allies world wide are looking at us with amazement at the dysfunction and wondering where it will end.

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Comments Off on A health care system for people, not just for corporate profit

A health care system for people, not just for corporate profit
September 21, 2017

America is Number 1 in health care! But before erupting in proud chants of USA! USA! – note that we’re only Number 1 in health care spending. Ouch.

America spends more per person on medical bills than any other advanced nation on the planet – nearly $10,000 a year for each of us. Germany, Canada, Australia, England, Japan, and all other advanced democracies pay only a fraction of that – yet their people get far better care, are healthier, and live longer than our people. That’s because they have public health insurance systems providing comprehensive coverage for everyone, while eliminating the 25-30 percent of every health-care dollar that profiteering insurance corporations waste on overhead, advertising, paperwork, profits, and executive pay.
“The issue isn’t just jobs. Even slaves had jobs. The issue is wages.” –Jim Hightower

Why don’t we Americans have such an efficient and effective system? We do: Medicare! It’s a proven, no-hassle system delivering quality care to each of America’s senior citizens. It works!
But what about children, young people, and the middle-aged – the majority of our people? Glad you asked.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, along with 16 co-sponsors, has just introduced the “Medicare for All” act, extending this successful, commonsense program to everyone.
Sanders’ proposal (like Rep. John Conyers’ bill in the US House) will cut the health care costs paid by typical working families from some $5,300 a year to $844. It’ll also cut out the complexity and stress of getting the care you need – just go to any private doctor you choose, show your public insurance card, and – Bingo – you’re in! No more co-pays, deductibles or fighting with corporate insurance bureaucrats trying to keep you out.
To learn more about Bernie’s Medicare for All plan to create a people’s health care system, go to http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/17-senators-introduce-medicare-for-all-act.
“Medicare for All,” Bernie Sanders
“Single-Payer Talking Points & Why Mandate Plans Won’t Work,” Healthcare Now